Ethnobotanical survey on medicinal plants in the rural community of Bananal, Muriaé region, MG

Abstract

The objective of this work was to recover the knowledge about medicinal plants among residents
of the rural community of Bananal, municipality of Muriaé, MG. Semi structured questionnaires
were applied, accompanied by the photographic record. The characterization of the
group studied showed that 83% of the interviewees were female and 17% were male, with the
majority housewife (47%) and farmer (33%). The tradition of plant utilization is transmitted by
parents (73%), however this practice has been weakening since 57% of informants reported
that they rarely use medicinal plants. In the preparation of the medicines 83% of the citations
indicated the preparation in the form of tea as the main means of utilization of the medicinal
plants, being the leaf the most used part with 48% of the citations. The families Lamiaceae
and Asteraceae were the most representative in this study and Mentha sp. was the most cited
species, followed by Mentha pulegium and Leonurus sibiricos sp.